Blue
by Fanna Girl
Summary: 'Blue, like the girl suffering alone. Blue, like the walls of a room made of memories. Blue, like the eyes of a boy who understands. Blue, like the agony building inside. Blue, like pool water in the middle of the night. Blue, like the sky on a day in April. Blue, like a t-shirt left on a bedroom floor. Blue, like the memories of me and you.' AU Percabeth.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything PJO, or relating to PJO, as well as any websites/books/TV shows mentioned in this fic, as I am but a teenage girl who doesn't have the funds to produce such masterpieces.**

* * *

**Blue**

**Chapter One**

Taking a deep breath, I fiddle with the corner of my binder as I walk through the empty hallway, my lip caught in my teeth. I've always hated walking in the hallways alone – even more than when it was full of kids, if that was possible. It just felt so…empty. Like I was the last one on Earth or something.

In an attempt to distract myself from my destination, I glance into the classrooms as I walk past, my ears catching bits of conversation. A few students glance at me, and I imagine myself in their shoes, wondering who the strange girl walking through the hallways in the middle of class is. Sighing softly, I wish I was them, that such wonderings were all I had to worry about right now.

The thrumming in my chest quickens to a gallop as I approach the doors to the office, squeezing my eyes shut for a minute before pulling open the heavy door, relieved that it wasn't locked as it usually was. I step in quietly, trying to shut the door behind me while juggling my books in the crook of my arm.

"Annabeth?" I hear behind me, and I swivel to see Silena Beauregard, my seat-buddy from Home Ec., sitting there with a curly-haired boy I'd seen talking to her in the halls sometimes. "It is you! What are you doing up here?" The gorgeous girl flashes me a smile, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder slightly, and I find myself vaguely jealous of her easy attitude. She'd moved here two months ago and she was already well-liked.

Forcing a smile back, I wave my pass awkwardly, my movements hindered by the supplies I'm carrying. "I, uh…I'm having Study Hall up here…" I mumble, the skin of my face prickling slightly, alerting me of the blush that must be forming. Silena frowns playfully, glancing at the boy next to her, whose lips also turn downwards.

Then, they both turn to me, their eyes glittering. "You aren't stealing our job, are you? We were told somebody wanted to take our jobs as office helpers next semester, and we've been trying to figure out who it was," Silena confides, and I shrug, shifting uncomfortably, my gaze flashing to the guidance offices. I know I shouldn't take too long, since I was already late, but it would be rude just to walk away, despite how much I hate talking to strangers.

"Uh, no," I reply awkwardly, trying to ignore the brown-eyed gaze of the strange, curly-haired boy. "I'm just here because…" My throat closes immediately, and I rush for a lie to tell them, "um, because…it was really crowded in the cafeteria Study Hall." Wincing at the awkward lilt to my voice, I force a small smile, nodding towards Mrs. Blofis's open door. "So, uh…I should probably…go…" good

Silena nods in response, still beaming, and I nod in goodbye, internally wincing at my awkwardness. However, Silena doesn't seem to notice it, because by the time I've passed their little table, she's already talking to the curly-haired brunet boy about a rumor surrounding her and her boyfriend, Charlie Beckendorf.

Letting out a puff of air, I screw my eyes shut, attempting to calm my heart, which was pounding on over-drive. Walking into the room slowly, I bite my lip, my ponytail swishing against my neck as I move.

As soon as I enter, Mrs. Blofis looks up, a smile on her lips as she pushes her straight, light brown hair out of her eyes, which are enchantingly blue. Once again, I'm struck by how pretty she is, and for a moment I forget why I'm there, my insecurities flushing to the front of my mind as I marvel at her beautiful, almost ageless face.

A second later, I realize I'm sort of staring at the poor woman, and I shake my head slightly, smiling apologetically, my mind shifting into Adult Mode, my body adopting a more sophisticated stance. Peers might make me nervous, but adults – I know exactly where I stand with them. "I'm sorry," I apologize softly, placing my books down on the table she had pointed out to me upon our last meeting. "I, uh…I forgot about coming here."

She nods understandingly as I place the pass she had sent down to Study Hall for me on her desk. "I was worried you might have changed your mind," she laughs, and I shake my head, biting my lip, wondering how someone could be so bright and happy. In the back of my mind, I try to remember a time when I was able to genuinely laugh so freely. Nothing came to mind.

"No, no – I'm really happy that you gave me this opportunity," I reply, and her smile widens immediately. It's so easy to make her smile, I think, struggling to keep my own lips tilted upwards politely. How can someone be so…sunny all of the time?

"Of course!" she replies, bobbing her head up and down. "I'm just really glad to help – I only wish I had known about your situation sooner." Her smile falters slightly, and I'm once again touched by how much she actually cares about what's going on with me. Not touched enough to spill my soul to her, of course, but enough for my less-than-happy thoughts to be pushed away.

Suddenly, she blinks, seeming to remember something, snapping her fingers and bobbing her head, ducking down to pick up a piece of paper and a pen. "I almost forgot! You should go and take this note down to your Study Hall teacher – Mrs. Gardner, isn't it? Anyways, it just says that you'll be having Study Hall here for the rest of the year."

She grins once more, but I feel sort of uneasy. Sure, Mrs. Blofis is nice and I really like the idea of not running to Study Hall, but Mrs. Gardner is one of the only highlights of my day. I find myself sort of sad at the prospect of not seeing her every day, though I know that I'll see her often anyways, considering I'm friends with her daughter.

After a moment, I let out a breath, forcing another polite smile. "Yeah, of course," I reply, holding out my hand to take the slip of paper. "I'll be right back."

She nods, sitting down in her leather swivel chair and opening up a binder, continuing to work on whatever I had interrupted.

()()()

"Did you get in trouble?" asks Silena as I pass by again, and I look at her with furrowed eyebrows, internally questioning why she was talking to me when her other friend was right there. Slowly, I shake my head, biting my lip and wondering how it's any of her business anyways. We're not necessarily even friends, if I was being honest – she only talks to me in Home Ec. because she doesn't understand half of what we're doing. I'm not really the type of girl that girls like Silena speak to.

Still, ignoring her would be rude, so I ignore this fact and respond. "Uh, no…I just need to give this paper to Mrs. Gardner…" Silena and the boy share another look as I try to think of his name. No previous mentions of it appear in my mind, so I silently dub him Curly for the time being.

"So you are taking our job!" cries Curly, and I blink in surprise. "You need to leave, like, right now! Seriously – just go!"

"Wh-what?" I ask, taken aback by his rudeness, and Silena simply laughs, rolling her blue eyes and flicking the boy in the arm.

"He's kidding, Annabeth," she giggles, the sound melodic and light, like the chirping of doves or something. "Ignore him. God knows the rest of us do." Curly shoots her a glare, and I smile awkwardly, inching towards the door and wondering how much longer I'd have to stand here.

Luckily, a second later, they start bickering again, their attention leaving me for the moment. Letting out a deep breath of relief, I give an awkward wave in goodbye before pushing open the door again.

Neither spare a glance at me as I leave.

()()()

Mrs. Gardner smiles as I walk towards her, and I almost want to just sit back down in my usual seat and not give her the note, just continue to sit here under her gaze like I had since the beginning of the year. Of course, this isn't possible, since my dad had already gotten so excited about me "seeking help" like this, and I can't disappoint him again. So, instead of following my childish whims, I half-smile back at her and hander the paper. Her eyes scan the words, and she frowns slightly.

"Ah, I see," she says, looking up at me. "This is for the rest of the year?"

I nod mutely in response, shifting from foot-to-foot as I always do when I'm nervous.

She nods, handing me back the paper and smiling slightly, her brown eyes slightly sad. It was nice to know that she favors me, as well, and I smile back genuinely. "Well, in that case, you should head back, huh?" I nod again, feeling a bit like a bobble head.

A short, dark-haired boy clears his throat behind her suddenly, and we both look at him, slightly surprised. "Oh, yes, Nico," Mrs. Gardner says after a moment. "That actually works out rather nicely. Annabeth, since you're heading up there already, can you please take Nico to the guidance offices to get the seating chart for next quarter's Study Hall?"

"Yeah," I reply, bobbing my head once more. The image of a bobble-head version of me flutters through my mind, and I stop nodding. "Yeah, of course I can, Mrs. Gardner." Nico doesn't say anything as we walk out of the room, simply trudging behind me. I glance back one last time, thinking how strange it'll be to be all alone in the guidance office for a whole period for the rest of the year.

()()()

Silena smiles at me when I walk by with Nico in tow, but neither she nor Curly says anything. Silently, I wonder if anyone really is taking their jobs as office helpers, and why they're so upset by the prospect. After all, who wants to run around the school giving people messages? The idea feels stressful to me, but I push the thought out of my mind as I watch Nico duck into Mr. D's guidance office.

Letting out a soft sigh, I think again of my comfy Study Hall seat, but turn to Mrs. Blofis's office anyways. I'm surprised to see that the door is closed now, and I have to push it open again, making the yarn Santa head she had hung from the doorknob bounce against the wooden door. Turning back slightly, I push the head out of the way again to close the door behind me properly.

When I straighten and move to sit down at the small table I had placed my books on, however, I see a boy sitting in the chair across from mine, and my heart stops.

"Oh, Annabeth," I vaguely hear Mrs. Blofis say, "this is Percy."

* * *

**Hey, everyone!**

**I'm Anna, and I'm sort of really new to the PJO side of fanfic, so I'm deeply sorry if this sucks.**

**Just a second warning, the characters will probably be extremely OOC, but I'll try to fit in as many familiar characteristics as possible that fit into the plot line.**

**So...yeah! I really hope you liked/like it!**

**~Anna**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything PJO, or relating to PJO, as well as any websites/books/TV shows mentioned in this fic, as I am but a teenage girl who doesn't have the funds or talent to produce such masterpieces.**

* * *

**Blue**

**Chapter Two**

_And don't feel awkward about it, Annabeth,_ she had said the week before. _You aren't the only one who comes up here for Study Hall. A lot of kids have for the same reasons as you, over the years – you don't have to worry about not fitting in because of it or anything._

Somehow, it never occurred to me that she meant it when she said that. Or that the "kids" she was talking about included Perseus Jackson.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Blofis continues as I try to turn away from him, biting my lip. "I'm sure he won't bother you in any way." I move my head up and down once, mutely, before shuffling into my seat, feeling his eyes leave the back of my head once I do. Casually, I push my golden hair out of my eyes, looking him up and down as he picks up a large book from his own stack of school supplies, and I bite my lip.

Considering my stellar lack of social grace, I don't know much about who is "popular" and who isn't in my school. I just know that my friend group falls into the latter category, and are quite content with staying there. However, I know enough to know that Percy Jackson was most definitely popular – not even my friends can keep from talking about him from time-to-time.

Percy is our school's star swimmer, and one of the only reasons our swim program hadn't shut down a few years ago. He isn't in any of my AP classes, but everyone always gushes about his straight-A's, too, so I suppose he is at least kind of smart. And, well, he's a generally nice guy. He doesn't really talk to me, of course, but he's never been outwardly rude, like some of his friends were.

And then there's the fact that he's absolutely gorgeous, as well.

Yes, there's no denying that Percy Jackson is one of the hottest guys in school, with his masterfully messy mop of dark hair and shining sea-blue eyes. As I sit there, I casually scan his lean muscles, which flex slightly as he moves, his broad shoulders tightening under his faded, powder-blue t-shirt.

He shifts again, his eyes wandering away from the pages in front of him and meeting my own eyes, and I feel my skin prickle again before I smiled awkwardly, ducking down and pulling out my AP English homework quickly.

As I start on the first question, I swear I hear him chuckle.

()()()

"I ship it," is all Katie says after I explain the situation, twirling her dark hair around her finger, a smile dancing on her lips. I shoot her a Look, but she ignores it as she leans against my desk, staring up at the plaster of the ceiling. "You and Percy Jackson," she muses. "That'd be awfully cute."

I roll my eyes, scoffing slightly as I pull out my copy of _The Fault in Our Stars _to distract myself from the conversation. "You're insane," I shoot back. "Your Tumblr obsession has gone to your head or something." She simply laughs as I shake my head at her, muttering under my breath as I open up the book to a random page.

Katie sticks her tongue out at me, making a face. "Whatever," she replies, obviously not deterred by my cynical response. "Deny your chemistry all you want, it'll still be there – I mean, didn't you say he was staring at you?" I ignore her, but my silence doesn't discourage her after all of these years, and so she simply plows on, her brown eyes glittering brightly. "Ooh, I bet he thinks you're hot."

After a moment of contemplating this great piece of wisdom, she nods, a grin appearing on her face. "Yeah, he definitely thinks you're hot."

"I think you need to go to the nurse or something, because you're acting pretty delusional."

Katie snorts, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly and patting me on the head. "Whatever you say, Annie," she replies, half-laughing. "You totally think he's hot, and he totally thinks you're hot, and you're going to end up dating. I see it now. It's going to happen."

Sighing, I look up at her, pulling myself away from Hazel and Gus as I look her in the eyes. "Katie," I say slowly, raising my eyebrows at her. "This is not a fanfiction. I'm not going to end up with a boy who sits across from me in the guidance office. That isn't how my life works."

My friend just shrugs, obviously not believing me, and I sigh, thumbing the pages of the book and frowning slightly. "So, other than that, how are things?" she asks, giving up her delusions for a moment at the sight of my upset expression. I shrug, closing _TFIOS_ - God knows I won't have enough time to actually read anything with Katie determined to talk to me - and sitting back in my chair slightly as a some of the last students rush into the classroom.

As I open my mouth to respond, the bell rings, and I pause before mouthing at her, "Sucky." She nods in response, frowning sympathetically and ruffling my curls before heading a few seats back to sit down in her own seat.

"Hello, class," Mr. Brunner says as he wheels out from behind his desk, his eyebrows arched. He looks pointedly from student to student, as he usually does, but I can't find the will to pay attention. My stomach churns painfully, my brain starting to cloud over with thoughts, but I try to keep my eyes on Mr. Brunner as he turns to the whiteboard, picking up a dry erase marker and stretching up to scrawl his question across the board.

** Was Edgar Allen Poe mad, or did he simply see the world that others denied existed?**

Mr. Brunner turned around, a smile on his face. "Well?" he prompts after a moment. "This should be a very simple question." We share uneasy looks, and his grin broadens, his eyes glittering happily at our unsureness.

He scans each face again, his eyebrows still raised. "I give you that to think about during the break," he tells us. "You shall have to write a paper on it at the end of our next unit."

A few groans sound, but he ignores them as he pushes on with his lesson – I, however, can only focus on the bright, block letters on the board.

_ Was he mad, or did he simply see?_

()()()

By the time the bell rings, I'm eager to get home, so I try to hurry while packing up my books. Katie, of course, has already packed up all of her things, and so she simply hangs back while I get ready. "Do you want to go with me to shop for dresses for the dance this weekend?" she asks conversationally, and I look at her in confusion, my eyebrows pulled together as I lifted my books,_ TFIOS_ standing proudly on top of the pile.

"What dance?" I ask as we start to walk, both of us pausing to say goodbye to Mr. Brunner before heading out the door to our lockers.

Katie shrugs as we duck through the hallways, narrowly avoiding the buff wrestlers as they spar nearby. "You know," she replies, rolling her eyes, "the Winter Formal. The one Juniper's been ranting about?"

I look at her in confusion, and she laughs, knocking on my head with a closed hand. "Is anyone even in there?" she inquires, and I scoff, pulling my skull away from her grasp. She smiles, undeterred by my grumpy response, her tone chipper as she continues. "Juniper's going with Grover, of course, but she wanted to know if we'd come, considering what's been going on between the two of them."

This, at least, I know – Grover apparently hadn't been as affectionate as he used to be recently, and Juniper was quite worried about it. In fact, it was all she can talk about whenever either Katie or I hang out with her. She probably wants us there to monitor his behavior or something, to make sure he wasn't hanging out with any other girls. This, of course, is a completely ludicrous thought, considering Grover's obvious adoration for Juniper, but it's my duty as her best friend to go along with her craziness, so I simply sigh and nod.

We stop at the ramp that leads up to my locker, which is in the science wing, and hug briefly. "Wanna go to the library?" she asks, and I let out a deep breath, picturing sitting in the truck next to Malcolm for a whole half hour, and nod, smiling.

She grins back, ruffling my hair and heading down the hallway to her locker. "See you in a minute, Annie!" she calls over her shoulder, and I wave before turning around, moving through the crowded hallway to my locker.

Juniper waves at me as I pass, her frizzy red hair framing her elvish face as she smiles. I wave back, managing a hello before I'm shoved onward through the mass.

I see Luke Castellan leaning down into his own locker as I pass, and I punch him in the shoulder with a smile, as per usual. He looks up slightly, his blonde hair flipping out of his eyes, a fake scowl on his lips as I pass by with a wink. He shakes his head at me before I turn away, heading down to my own locker and twisting the dial.

Four more days, I think. Four more days, and I'm free to relax.

The thought does little to make me feel better.

* * *

**First Sunday update!**

**I hope you liked it - you got a glimpse at Annabeth's life/relationships! Yay! Cool!**

**Any ideas about what's going on with her?**

**Review and tell me! :)**

**~Anna**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything PJO, or relating to PJO, as well as any websites/books/TV shows mentioned in this fic, as I am but a teenage girl who doesn't have the funds or talent to produce such masterpieces.**

* * *

**Blue**

**Chapter Three**

Collapsing back onto my bed, I close my eyes, taking a deep, calming breath. My room is indisputably my favorite place in the house, with the powder blue walls and mini-shelves filled with books and old toys. It looks a bit crazy, if I'm being honest, with all of the glow-in-the-dark stars and pieces of paper stuck all over the walls, but I love it intensely.

It holds all of my childhood memories from when we lived in Rhode Island, like the boogie boards and sea-shell necklaces, and in the far corner, tucked behind my dressing screen, all of my mom's old costumes and the presents I got when I left.

My favorite part of it, however, has to be the dangling Christmas lights I had strewn from the triangular attic ceiling, because they cast everything in this warm, welcoming glow. It reminds me of when I was younger and Mom took me out onto the porch where she had strewn similar lights and told me stories.

Whenever I find myself missing her, I just sit here and imagine I was five again, sitting on her knee as the waves washed up against the shore…

"Annabeth?" a familiar, feminine voice calls through the door, and I try not to wince. I know my step-mother means well by trying to connect with me and all, but it was kind of weird to talk to her, even after all of these years. She raps on the door quietly, and I bite my lip, opening my eyes slightly. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," I call back, sitting up against the pillows pressed against my headboard. "Come on in."

The door creaks open, and Sue peers in, a smile on her pretty face, her dark hair falling into her brown eyes. "How was your day?" she asks, quietly, sliding in and shutting the door behind her. I know that Sue doesn't really understand the chaos of my room, but she manages not to comment on it as she sits down at the foot of my bed, looking up at my collection of calendars. I shrug, and she nods nervously, playing with her fingers.

"Has your mom called recently?" she asks, and I know she's really stretching for conversation by throwing this one out there. If there's anything Sue hates to talk about, it's my mother – which is probably why our relationship is so strained; my mom and I look _a lot_ alike.

"Not really," I reply, shrugging again. "She's been busy with work and stuff. But we're going to England together next summer, so…"

Sue nods, her lips pursing as she looks down at her hands. I feel sort of guilty for not saying anything else, but I can't help but feel awkward around her - after all, I've lived here since sixth grade and still knew little to nothing about her. "That's right," she recalls, her voice soft as she tucks a red highlight behind her ear. "I remember, now. Your father mentioned it the other day – he sounds really jealous of you going."

Laughing despite myself, I nod. "Yeah, Dad loves England. We went when I was little, and he adopted the accent and everything. It was pretty fun." Sue smiles at me, her eyes glittering at me happily.

"Yeah, he's pretty crazy about accents – I remember, we went to France for our honeymoon, and he kept talking like that for about a month!" she giggles, and I smile wider, laughing with her. After a while, our giggles trail off, and we sit in silence for a minute before she nods, as if something has been confirmed for her, tapping my feet through the blankets. "Well, I'll see you at dinner, then. I don't want to keep you from your homework."

I simply nod, watching her leave with a twinge of guilt spinning through me. When the door shuts behind her, I curl up into my pillows, closing my eyes and wishing I could be normal.

()()()

"He doesn't even call me beautiful anymore!" wails Juniper, throwing her delicate arms up. Katie tries not to laugh as the red-head rants into her computer's camera, her green eyes puffy from crying. I bite my lip, trying to take Juniper's troubles seriously, but I can't find the will to do so. Grover loves her; everyone knows that. Luke had been talking to him just the other day about what Grand Romantic Gesture he should make for Valentine's Day.

Instead of pointing this out, however, I let her continue her rant, knowing that she just needs to let it out sometimes. While she does so, however, I scribble down answers to the Honors Chemistry homework. "Hey, Katie," I whisper, so that Juniper doesn't notice it through her end of the call. "What's the answer to question number seven?"

I see Katie duck down, looking at her own homework, before her head pops back up and she mouths the answer. Bobbing my head thankfully, I scrawl the answer down. "Juniper," I say during a pause in her speech, "Grover loves you."

"How do you know?" she cries. "I barely ever see him anymore, Annie! What if he's found someone else? Oh, I'd die without him!"

Katie's eyebrows raise, and she shakes her head briefly. Despite all of the dark-haired girl's talk about shipping and True Love and OTPs, I knew for an absolute fact that she was pretty skeptical of the whole love-in-high-school business, and so Juniper's rambling was probably as crazy to her as it is to me. "Grover hasn't found anyone else," the brown-eyed girl deadpans. "In fact, I don't think he'll _ever_ find anyone else. Grover is not a very…well, not a lot of girls really think of him that way, Juniper. He would probably have a very hard time finding someone as amazing and loveable as you."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better!" Juniper sobs. "Oh, I bet it's Cypress! She was always eying him! And she's s-so _pretty!_"

"You're pretty, too," I remind her, writing down the answer to the last question. "And I really doubt Cypress Gardenia is into Grover, if I'm being honest here." Katie can't help but snicker at my comment, but Juniper ignores my tone, instead dramatically flopping back in her bed and clutching the stuffed animal penguin Grover had gotten her last Christmas.

Hugging the penguin – dubbed Hemmo, due to her obsession with the band 5 Seconds of Summer – Juniper let out another wail of unreasonable misery, and I wince, turning down my laptop's volume and hoping that she doesn't wake up the twins. "Of course she is!" she cries. "He's such a great guy, and he's so _hot!_ I'm so lucky to have him, and n-now, he's slipping away!"

Despite the slight irritation in my stomach at her ranting, I'm glad for it – the other, darker feeling building in me was quenched by the distraction. That's the great thing about my friends – they were too crazy for me to focus on my own insanity for too long while I'm with them. So instead of snapping at her, I listen intently, feeling the hardened edges of the fog gathering in my mind slip away, softening at the tone of her voice.

()()()

"At least it's not Monday anymore," are my dad's words of wisdom as I leave the house, a broad smile on his face. I smile weakly back, waving half-heartedly at him as I trudge out after Malcolm to his car. As I do so, I think of Dad's words, and I delve into one of my numerous mental tirades as I pull myself into the truck my brother so proudly called his own.

_Mondays aren't even so bad for me, _I think as Malcolm revs the engine. _Not since I started having writing club meetings on Mondays. Yesterday wouldn't have been half as bad if it hadn't been canceled. No, Mondays are really fun – it's Fridays that suck._

_Fridays, when I sit alone in my room listening to music and stalking from website to website, stuffing my face, when the empty weekend is staring me in the face…when I stay up late, when the down moods come…Fridays, when the real me comes out, the me no one really sees or wants to see or even understands. Fridays are the days I want to end, not Mondays._

In the middle of this mental tsunami, Malcolm screeches to a stop at a light, and I bounce forward, my thoughts knocked out of my head for the moment. "Shit!" I exclaim, my heart pounding as I turn my head slightly to glare at my idiot of a brother. "How did you even getting a license, you idiot?"

He simply grins back, shrugging and rubbing the back of his neck with his large, calloused hand. "Luck," he replies, a pompous look in his eyes. "Well, and my stunning good looks, of course."

I snort, punching him in the arm and sitting back, my arms crossed irritably over my chest. He casts me a glance, his eyebrows raised, as we wait for the light to go green. "That time of the month?" he taunts, though his voice is half-serious, and I shoot him a sharp glare, wishing he would just shut up for once.

"I just don't like near-death experiences," I snap, "especially when they're caused by stupid, careless older brothers that are too self-obsessed to see the danger in reckless behavior."

He whistles under his breath as the light turns, lifting a hand in surrender. I simply huff, turning to the window and adjusting my bag in my lap, trying not to feel guilty for snapping at him. I know it's not him that's got me so irritable – it's the feeling clenching my stomach and wriggling up my chest, latching around my ribcage, making it hard to breathe. "I'm sorry," I mumble after a moment, staring out the window. "I just can't wait until break."

I see him nod softly out of the corner of my eye. "Me, too, sis," he replies, reaching out and tapping my knee reassuringly. A memory flashes in a small corner of my mind of sitting on the stairs, crying, my hand pressed to my blackening eye as Malcolm and my dad yelled at each other. Shivering, I shift away from his touch, hugging myself tighter as he continues the drive in a thick silence filled with words neither of us had the humility to say.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long! There's been a lot of troubles in the computer business as of late, and I haven't been able to upload anything. Very troublesome.**

**This chapter is kind of sucky/filler, so I'm sorry about that, but I promise that it's going to pick up soon. :D**

**~Anna**


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